Blues at Coyotes
After a 6-1-0 start, the St. Louis Blues appeared to be a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. Shaky goaltending and a rash of injuries on offense have reduced St. Louis to just another team in the Western Conference, where two points separate teams No. 4 through 10. The Blues, who have dropped three of their last four games, will try to regain their early season form when they visit the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday. St. Louis, which lost 6-4 at Los Angeles on Tuesday to fall to 5-8-2 since Feb. 1, is in a three-way tie for eighth in the West.
Phoenix lost 2-0 at Anaheim on Wednesday in the finale of a rare three-game series. The Coyotes, who are seventh in the West with 25 points, defeated the Ducks 5-4 in shootouts Saturday and Monday in Phoenix. The Coyotes are 8-5-1 at Jobing.com Arena and have won four of their last five games as they begin a three-game homestand. Mike Smith was in goal for the first two Anaheim games, and is expected to play after Jason LaBarbera stopped 22 shots Wednesday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE BLUES (11-9-2): St. Louis recalled goaltender Jake Allen from Peoria of the American Hockey League without making a corresponding move. Neither Jaroslav Halak nor Brian Elliott appears on an injury report so it is unclear whether this an attempt to shake the Blues out of their doldrums. Halak was pulled Tuesday after yielding five goals on 21 shots. Allen did win three straight games in February - St. Louis' only winning streak since January - while Halak was nursing a groin injury. The Blues are without three top forwards in left wings Alex Steen (shoulder) and Andy McDonald (knee), and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, a potential Calder Trophy candidate with six goals in 17 games before suffering a concussion.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (11-9-3): Coach Dave Tippett said his team "didn't compete hard enough" Wednesday, but deep down must be satisfied that his charges earned four out of a possible six points against the hottest team in the NHL other than the Chicago Blackhawks. Right wing Radim Vrbata could return to the lineup Thursday. He has missed the last eight games because of a lower-body injury after accumulating four goals and 12 points in 15 contests. After starting the season 8-for-31 on the power play, Phoenix is 6-for-56 in 16 games since Feb. 1. Martin Hanzal, who has a team-leading seven goals, hasn't recorded a point in two games since missing five with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis, which has the second-best power play in the NHL at 27.8 percent, is 1-for-19 with the man advantage in its last eight games
2. Smith is 6-3-0 at home and 3-3-2 on the road, but his goals-against average is 0.73 higher and save percentage 0.40 lower in the desert.
3. St. Louis, which won three of the four meetings in 2011-12, is 1-4-1 against the Pacific Division this season.